Due to the changes made in college football schedules across the country, Navy and BYU played each other in a primetime slot on Labor Day. It was a premium opportunity for both programs to showcase themselves, but that proved only true for BYU.
For Navy, it was a lesson learned. Head coach Ken Niumatalolo admitted after the lopsided BYU win that he was so preoccupied with preventing the spread of COVID-19 during the preseason that he limited live hitting in practices. The result was 14 missed tackles, according to PFF.
It’s unclear if NC State defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Tony Gibson’s recent sleeping problems over the issue of tackling began before or after the Navy-BYU game, but his overall concerns on the subject are real.
In fact, it’s his No. 1 worry.
“That’s why I have been waking up about 2 a.m. every day, every night and not sleeping well. That is my biggest fear,” Gibson acknowledged.
NC State only had one scrimmage in preseason camp after also missing most of spring practices, all due to issues stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. Gibson confirmed there would not be any additional scrimmages, as NC State has moved ahead to start preparing for its season opener against Wake Forest on Sept. 19.
That’s not to say, however, that the Wolfpack coaches are not prioritizing tackling. Defensive and offensive skill players are doing tackling drills every other day, the latter group because some of them will be on special teams. Gibson has teamed with running backs coach Kurt Roper and tight ends coach Todd Goebbel to have his linebackers work on tackling in space.
“We’ve tried to hit it the best we can,” Gibson said. “Obviously we’ve gotten one good scrimmage in where we tackled, and we tackled pretty well. I was kind of shocked and excited to see where we were tackling. It was the first time since March that we were in a live situation. Was happy to see the scrimmage, didn’t track a lot of missed tackles in that.”
Gibson knows better than to take for granted the tackling efficiency displayed in one scrimmage.
“Moving forward it’s going to be a wait-and-see and make sure our guys are running to the ball,” Gibson said. “At least if we do miss one, the next guy there needs to make it.”
A successful tackling team involves more than getting in live hitting in practices or scrimmages. It’s an attitude, Gibson noted.
“A lot of tackling is want-to,” he explained. “That’s the biggest thing. Do you want to tackle anybody? Are you a hitter? Obviously they are here for a reason. We thought they were talented enough to play at this level. You get some kids in here that weren’t taught the right way, maybe, or were taught a different way than we want them. So you try to fine-tune that and tweak it, but a lot of it is effort and getting to the football and being willing to wrap your arms and put your face on people.”
“Everybody looks good in t-shirts and shorts, but when the pads come on the real guys step up,” Gibson added. “Hopefully we got a bunch of those real guys.”
Gibson knows of a few linebackers who fit that mold, agreeing with strength coach Dantonio “Thunder” Burnette’s proclamation during Dave Doeren’s weekly coach’s show on Tuesday that redshirt junior Isaiah Moore and redshirt sophomores Drake Thomas and Seth Williams fit the profile of a throwback. Gibson noted that he would add redshirt sophomore Payton Wilson to the list.
“Those guys are gritty, they are nasty, they’ll hit anything that crosses their face, they love it. … They seek out contact,” Gibson noted. “Some guys may shy away from it, they love it. That’s part of their DNA.
"They are throwback linebackers. They need to be wearing No. 55 and 44 and numbers like that, the way they play.”
Gibson’s hope is that those linebackers and the rest of the defense are ready to have that mentality for the opener because the overall effectiveness of the unit will start with one simple fundamental — tackling.
“That is a concern, and … it’s nationwide, not just here at NC State,” Gibson said.
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